Saturday, 12 November 2016

Government officials who engage in corruption must be prepared to
face prosecution in accordance with Zimbabwe’s laws and should not hide
behind claims of political persecution, Zimbabwe National Army Commander
Lieutenant-General Philip Valerio Sibanda has said.In
an interview with The Sunday Mail yesterday, Lt-Gen Sibanda said his
position on corruption was in sync with that of his boss, the Commander
in Chief-of the Zimbabwe Defence Forces, President Mugabe. The Army
commander also said the military had no hand in Zanu-PF’s internal
political issues and would play no role in alleged succession struggles.
Lt-Gen Sibanda becomes the latest senior military officer to put his
foot down on the matter of official sleaze and impropriety following
allegations of corruption and abuse of office by senior Government
officials, including Cabinet ministers.President Mugabe has upped the ante against graft, bringing the
Zimbabwe Anti-Corruption Commission directly under direct supervision of
his office last year. Pursuing an anti-corruption thrust is part of
President Mugabe’s 10-Point Plan for Economic Growth.Recently, Air Force of Zimbabwe Commander Air Marshal Perrance Shiri
also condemned corruption, telling corrupt officials to man up and face
the music. ZNA Chief-of-Staff Major-Gen Douglas Nyikayaramba also told
the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Defence and Security that
corruption by senior Government officials was partly to blame for poor
economic growth.

And yesterday Lt-Gen Sibanda said, “My take (on corruption) is no
different from what my Commander-in-Chief has already said: Anyone who
is involved in corruption should carry his own cross and that is our
position as the military as well.”On private media claims that the military was enmeshed in internal
party matters, the Army commander said: “We are not playing any role (in
politics).“That field is for the political parties, in this particular case I
guess you are talking about Zanu-PF. In Zanu-PF the military has no role
to play in terms of succession politics, and that is the long and short
of it.”Lt-Gen Sibanda was speaking to The Sunday Mail on the sidelines the
Mechanised Brigade and Inkomo Garrison Unit’s Couples Day celebrations
at Nyabira Country Club. Allegations of corruption and abuse of office
by senior Government officials have dominated media headlines in recent
months, with the public calling for decisive action.Among the high profile cases ZACC is investigating involve Local
Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister Saviour
Kasukuwere’s allocation of residential stands at Chishawasha B Farm; and
how his Higher and Tertiary Education, Science and Technology
Development counterpart Professor Jonathan Moyo and other officials
allegedly siphoned hundreds of thousands of US dollars from the Zimbabwe
Manpower Development Fund.President Mugabe quizzed Minister Kasukuwere over the stands issue
before a Zanu-PF Politburo meeting. The stands are supposed to benefit
youths, women and civil servants; and the minister is accused of seeking
to profit from the land by selling it to his associates.In the Zimdef case, Prof Moyo and his deputy Dr Godfrey Gandawa
allegedly used shelf companies Wisebone Trading and Fuzzy Technologies
to loot the parastatal. Dr Gandawa owns Fuzzy Technologies.Prof Moyo has responded to the Zimdef allegations by likening himself
on social media to Robin Hood – a character from British folklore who
robbed the rich and gave to the poor.Zimdef was established in terms of Section 23 of the Manpower
Planning and Development Act 36 of 1948, now the revised Manpower
Planning and Development Act (Chapter 28:02) of 1996 to finance
development of critical and highly skilled manpower through a one
percent Training Levy paid by companies registered in Zimbabwe.